1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication terminal, and, in particular, relates to a communication terminal available for an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system and an information processing system including the communication terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, as a system for managing articles, there has been developed an RFID system that establishes, on the basis of a non-contact method, communication between a reader/writer generating an induction electromagnetic field and a wireless tag storing therein predetermined information assigned to an article, and transmits information. An example of an RFID system of this type is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-99184 and includes an information processing system where an RFID device in the form of a wireless IC tag is embedded within an input pen and when the RFID device and the information processing device including a reader/writer are located within a range within which communication is capable of being established, the information processing device reads out the information of the RFID device and recognizes a pen user or characters written using the pen.
However, since, in the above-mentioned information processing system, the RFID device in the form of the wireless IC tag and the reader/writer being located within a range within which communication is capable of being established is a required operating condition, and a communication distance for a high-frequency wave of an HF band or a UHF band is short, there has occurred a problem that it is possible to establish communication only at a very short distance.
In addition, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-240217, there is described an inventory management system that includes a plurality of handy terminals establishing communication with a base unit so as to manage inventory in a book shop. However, this handy terminal is a terminal embedding therein a battery and a signal processing circuit, and has a problem that the configuration thereof is complicated and the size thereof is large.